Football tries to get ahead of its concussion problem, but it might be too late

Brayden Kleps loves to eat.He also enjoys smiling, and he's a very good giggler for his age.But will he enjoy football?It's too soon to know, since my son is all of 4 months old.As ridiculously premature as it seems, I think about that question every day.Those thoughts sped up when The Plain Dealerwrote about a Cleveland Clinic-led study of football players from John Carroll, Baldwin Wallace and the University of Rochester.The study, which can be found here, says hits that don't result in concussions can still lead to brain abnormalities that linger for at least six months. It also showed that the players who suffered the most head blows had evidence of damage to the brain's protective barrier, along with changes in brain structure and function.Tuesday, I wrote one of the NFL's biggest problems is the stadium experience often isn't as enticing to fans as watching all of the games at home.The elephant in the room I didn't address that day is concussions, the subject that has many parents, including me, wondering about their children's participation in the country's most popular sport.

My son, if he is anything like me, has as much of a chance of playing in the NFL as Mike Wallace does being underpaid when free agency kicks off this week.But studies like the one done by the Cleveland Clinic get us thinking about football at a much more rudimentary level.My first instinct, and time will tell if my wife agrees, is if my son wants to play a sport, I should let him play.Kids play sports, and the lessons they learn along the way help them in almost every facet of life.Football — where “bigger, stronger, faster” is no longer just an offseason motto used by high school coaches as inspiration — is a little different than the others, though.There's a reason Don Van Natta Jr.'s excellent ESPN The Magazine story on Roger Goodell generated so much buzz this week.Not because the piece was fantastic, which it was, but because the NFL commissioner, according to Van Natta Jr., has told people close to him he is “terrified” a player will one day die on the field.The league is taking steps to make the game safer, and every youth league should do the same.If you're like me, you'll want your son to play a sport he enjoys — while also worrying that the sport he likes the most will be the one you do, too.

No name change for SportsTime Ohio

Francois McGillicuddy, the new senior vice president and general manager of Fox Sports Ohio, is an interesting man. He has an extensive television and financial background, and he once ran a Shakespeare festival in Pennsylvania.We'll have much more on McGillicuddy in the coming week in this blog and in Crain's print edition, but there is one thing I want to pass along now after meeting the former executive of the Speed channel: There won't be a name change, at least initially, for SportsTime Ohio.

McGillicuddy said Fox Sports Ohio, which purchased SportsTime Ohio from the Indians in December for about $235 million, won't change the network's moniker as the Tribe's first season under Fox Sports' extensive regional channel umbrella gets set to start.“I think it resonates with fans,” McGillicuddy said of the SportsTime Ohio brand.

Don't splurge on him

NFL free agency kicks off at 4 p.m. Tuesday, but teams can begin negotiating with agents tonight at midnight.The Browns, with almost $50 million in cap room, are expected to be very big spenders.With that in mind, we'd like to offer one more public service reminder: Please stay away from Mike Wallace.The (soon-to-be former) Steelers receiver isn't worth $10 million a year. And if Brian Hartline has agreed to a five-year, $30.775 million deal with the Dolphins, Wallace is certainly going to sign for at least $50 million.Hartline has six touchdowns in four NFL seasons. Wallace has 32 TDs in that span.At age 26 and with blazing speed, the latter is an enticing option for any team looking to win the offseason.He also takes too many plays off, and the Steelers have a knack for letting players go at the perfect time.Ask Santonio Holmes.You can follow me on Twitter for sports information, analysis and more love for Mike Wallace.

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